


Heart On A String

by tiigi



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King, Shazam! (2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Foster Family, Alternate Universe - No Pennywise (IT), Billy is still Shazam, Established Relationship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Misunderstandings, Superhero powers, basically richie and eddie foster freddy who has a crush on billy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:41:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22838758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tiigi/pseuds/tiigi
Summary: Since moving in with Richie and Eddie Tozier, Freddy Freeman has learnt three things.***He’s about to learn a whole lot more.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Freddy Freeman & Eddie Kaspbrack, Freddy Freeman & Richie Tozier, Freddy Freeman/Billy Batson
Comments: 96
Kudos: 316





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Someday I will stop posting new works before finishing old ones. Today is not that day :(
> 
> Hope you enjoy though! <3

Since moving in with Richie and Eddie Tozier, Freddy Freeman has learnt three things. One: dinner is served all day, every day. There is no time constraint to when Freddy can help himself to food, and, indeed, he  _ can  _ help himself to food which in itself is another improvement. If he’s hungry, he can grab a snack instead of waiting for a few hours. If he’s thirsty, he can make a milkshake instead of having tap water in a chipped, dirty glass. Overall, it’s a much more relaxed atmosphere than the last foster family he lived with.

Two: trauma is free real estate for jokes. They have clearly had their fair share of traumatic events, and by the second day Freddy has heard pretty much every joke under the sun about stab wounds and temporary comas. It should probably worry him more, but it’s sort of reassuring to know that they’re in no position to judge him.

The first time Richie had made a crack about Freddy’s ‘situation’, everybody at the table had frozen in shock. Eddie seemed horrified, and even Richie looked like he might be sick, like he genuinely hadn’t been expecting it to come out of his own mouth, but Freddy was mostly just surprised that the subject hadn’t been approached with scorn or pity. He knows the picture he makes– a fourteen year old disabled foster kid isn’t exactly likely to be prioritised in the system, so it was enough of a surprise when Freddy found out he was being fostered. The Toziers, honestly, are nothing but nice about it. Too nice, maybe, but that’s yet to be seen. After about a thousand apologies and a thousand explanations from Freddy that he doesn’t mind, really, it’s actually a relief, they finally decided that chronic pain jokes should be okayed by Freddy before they can be used. It kind of works for all of them.

The third thing Freddy has discovered is that he has a phenomenally difficult time opening up. It’s not just his feelings, he also can’t seem to share basic little facts about his day or what school was like. He only really notices it’s happening when he comes home and, for the third day in a row, answers Eddie’s question of, “How was school?” with a polite but cursory “Fine, thanks.”

He can tell it bothers them. They’re trying harder than any foster family Freddy has ever been with before, and he really shouldn’t be throwing away this opportunity because of his dumb trust issues, but he just can’t help it. If someone asks him a question, his natural inclination is to deflect, and really, it isn’t like Richie or Eddie want to know the truth anyway. What should he be telling them, that he’s bullied by two jerk-offs in the grade above him and he eats alone in the toilets because he’s not welcome in the cafeteria? That he has a hopeless crush on the coolest guy in his class who probably doesn’t even know Freddy’s name? No, he can’t blurt all that out over dinner.

So he stays quiet, and he feels guilty every time he replies with monosyllabic grunts and sees their faces fall. 

Eddie and Richie are already up and waiting at the kitchen table by the time Freddy shuffles towards it. Richie grins when he sees Freddy and holds out a brown paper bag for him to take. It’s suspiciously heavy and there’s a strange liquid seeping through the bottom.

“I made you lunch,” Richie tells him, inexplicably proud.

“Um, thanks.” Freddy offers an awkward smile in return. He’s definitely binning this when he gets to school.

“Are you staying for breakfast?” Eddie asks hopefully. Freddy can see in the tense line of his shoulders that he’s already anticipating a rejection. Freddy is pretty hungry and he wants to be able to sit down and eat breakfast with these people if only to make them happy. He just… can’t. He can’t sit around and answer their awkward questions or sit in uncomfortable silence and act like they’re one big happy family. His skin crawls with the thought of making idle small talk about his friends or his class work or what his plans after high school are.

They always do this: ask him if he wants to do normal, boring shit together and then get that kicked-puppy look when he says no. It makes him feel like shit, but there’s no other way to keep his distance without hurting their feelings, and it’s better that he doesn’t get attached so that when they inevitably decide that they don’t want him back after the probationary period, it won’t hurt as much. The first few times, he didn’t follow his own advice, and now he’s learnt from his mistakes.

“I should probably get going, don’t want to miss the bus.” Freddy smiles apologetically, tugging his rucksack over his shoulder. “Sorry. Maybe tomorrow.”

“Yeah, for sure.” Richie’s smile is too wide and overcompensating. Freddy feels sick with guilt.

“Hey, uh, you want a lift to school instead?” Eddie asks, abandoning his scrambled eggs to hurry after Freddy out of the kitchen. Freddy isn’t going very fast, so it’s not that difficult to catch up with him. “I could drop you off on my way to work?”

Freddy swallows nervously and fiddles with the straps of his backpack. This - getting a lift with Eddie - is a mistake he made when he first moved in with them and thought any alternative to getting on the hellish school bus would be worth it. Within the first five minutes of agonising silence and a few attempted conversations about his homework, Freddy realised it had been a mistake. 

“Oh, don’t worry about it.” Freddy knows for a fact that Eddie doesn’t start work for another hour yet. “The bus’ll be here any minute.”

Eddie’s forced smile drops, only for a fraction of a second but long enough for Freddy to see the hurt before it’s disguised as indifference.

“No worries,” Eddie shrugs, looking painfully awkward. “If you ever change your mind then just let me know! I can take you whenever!”

“Cool, thanks.” Freddy smiles, but he’s already turning away and heading for the front door. He can hear the faint rumble of the school bus and if he doesn’t hurry up he genuinely will miss it, so he calls out a hasty goodbye and closes the door behind him before Richie and Eddie have finished replying.

He does feel bad. He knows he’s being an asshole: uncooperative, unfriendly, difficult to be around. Maybe he’s just waiting for the other shoe to drop, for them to figure out they don’t actually want him around and to kick him to the curb. Still, he feels bad, as he always does, after he’s left them behind. 

Maybe things will get better during the holidays. School is stressful: juggling between asshole bullies and the pain of walking between classes and studying for exams and suppressing his inconvenient romantic feelings for golden boy Billy Batson, he’s feeling a little exhausted, both emotionally and physically. 

Speaking of, Freddy stumbles when he catches Billy’s eye over the headrest of one of the seats on the bus. The rest of his face is obscured from view so Freddy has no way of knowing if he smiles, but there’s a collective groan and a scattering of sarcastic applause as Freddy grips his crutch harder and gets his balance back. 

“Thank you, thank you.” Freddy responds, wishing he could just slink away towards a seat without humiliating himself further. “I’m here all week. Or, at least until Friday.”

“Sit the fuck down, Freeman.” Someone yells from the back of the bus, and it’s a pretty fucking great idea so Freddy does just that. The drive to school is uneventful but he knows as soon as he gets off, the rest of the day will be worse, so he savours the half hour drive as much as he can.

Freddy always gets off the bus last, because he knows if he tried to leave with people still behind them he’ll only end up taking forever and pissing people off. It’s a habit he’s developed over almost a decade, so long that he doesn’t even think about it anymore. He doesn’t think about it now, as he waits for the last dawdler to make their way down the aisle. He gets the shock of his life when he looks up to see that said dawdler is Billy Batson himself, the object of Freddy’s daydreams in the flesh, and he’s looming over Freddy’s seat.

“After you,” he offers valiantly, and the smile he gives Freddy is so charming that it practically sparkles. Freddy tried his best not to swoon.

“No, you go.” He replies, knowing he has a dumb, dopey grin on his face and knowing he can’t do anything about it. “I’ll just take ages, y’know?” He shakes his crutch to emphasise his point and he swallows, cringing, as Billy’s eyes are drawn towards it. Freddy knows it’s not like it’s the first time Billy’s ever seen it, but it still feels like admitting a weakness.

“Sad, right?” Freddy tries to joke, tries to channel his inner Richie because his jokes never seem to fall flat, but he can’t seem to get the words out properly. “If this was a comic book, I’d be flying already.”

_ Wow, good going Freeman. Now he knows what a massive nerd you are on top of being a massive loser. Success.  _

But Billy just smiles softly and shrugs his shoulders, thankfully not responding to either of Freddy’s later replies. “I don’t mind waiting,” he says, leaning back against the row of seats behind him as though to prove his point.

He’s so effortlessly cool it almost hurts. Freddy has heard rumours that Billy is a foster kid as well, that he’s been picked up by the police more times than he can remember, that he beat up two of the assholes that like to push Freddy around. 

And he’s talking to  _ Freddy. _

“Well, cool,” Freddy can’t help but level Billy with a toothy smile, genuinely touched, hoping like crazy that this isn’t some sort of practical joke. “Thanks, man.”

“No problem,” Billy replies. Freddy is endlessly glad that he didn’t get a ride in with Eddie after all, and he’s endlessly relieved to know that not everybody in school hates him.

***

“He  _ hates  _ me!” Eddie laments, pushing aside his breakfast and slumping over the table with his head resting in the cradle of his arms. “You saw that! You can’t deny it anymore, he hates me.”

Richie rolls his eyes affectionately and strokes Eddie’s back, rubbing his palm in comforting circles. “He doesn’t hate you, Eds.” He assures him, even though Richie is pretty disappointed himself. “He’s just taking some time to adjust.”

“But it’s been  _ weeks!”  _ Eddie groans. “If he was going to warm up to us, surely he would have done it by now?” 

“Babe,” And it’s a sad day indeed if Richie Tozier has to be the reasonable one. “It could take months. Sometimes even years! He doesn’t hate us, he’s just not used to being in a home like this and he doesn’t know how to respond to the change. It’s normal for him to push us away at first.”

Eddie lifts his head just enough to peer at Richie curiously, one eye open and one closed. “When did you get so damn knowledgeable, huh?”

Richie grins sheepishly. “I may have, uh, read about it. In a book. About fostering children.”

Eddie sits all the way up. “You read a book? You, Richie Tozier, went out and bought a book, and then sat down and read it? How the fuck did you manage that without me noticing?”

“I told you I was sneaking off to watch porn.” Richie smiles, like he’s actually proud of himself for thinking up an infallible excuse. To be fair, Eddie hadn’t even questioned it. 

“Of course you did.” Eddie stands and starts to clear away their plates, slipping Freddy’s unused cutlery back into the drawer with a heavy heart. “Thank you, Rich.” He says. “I know I haven’t exactly been relaxed about all this, but, just… thanks for sticking with me.”

Richie sidles up behind him and draped his arms over Eddie’s shoulders, kissing his cheek. “Always.” He murmurs.

When they’d first started talking about fostering children, Richie had pretty much had a breakdown about it, thinking it would mean starting from scratch and raising a child. When he’d voiced his worries and it had come to light that neither of them had the slightest clue of how to take care of a baby, they had decided it might be better for them to foster a teenager, give an opportunity to someone who might not get many others.

Freddy has seemed like the perfect fit. Richie had still been terrified, but they’d both been vibrating out of their skin with excitement to start this new stage of their lives. And then things had started going… not so great, and in a bizarre turn of events, Richie was the one comforting Eddie.

It’s just that Eddie wants  _ so badly  _ to get along with Freddy. He never had a dad himself, and if he can be that support for someone else then it’ll feel like he’s finally done something truly good with his life. It’s just that… how can he tell Richie that? How can he admit that his upbringing means he’s doomed to be a terrible father, when Richie went through so much himself as a kid? It feels like a failure, like he’s failing not only himself but his husband as well, and it makes him feel sick with guilt and regret.

“Eds, I can hear you stressing out. Don’t.” Richie sighs and nudges Eddie out of the way, taking the plates from his hand, thankfully before he drops them all over the floor. “What’s got you so worried, huh? It’s barely been a month yet, we just need to get to know each other.”

“It’s been a month and he barely talks to us,” Eddie moans, but it’s more subdued now, more resigned. “I mean, shit Rich, it’s not like we have a clue how to treat a teenager either. Do we talk to him about this, or will that just drive him away more? It feels like we’re fighting a losing battle.”

“That’s because he’s a teenager. It’s just what teenagers are like! The longer he gets used to us, the more comfortable he’ll become here. That’s a Richie Tozier guarantee.” When Eddie doesn’t respond, Richie tilts his chin up and brushes his hair away from his eyes. “C’mon, Eds, when am I wrong? Literally ever?”

That breaks Eddie out of his thoughts and he lets out a snort of laughter, rolling his eyes fondly. “You want a serious answer for that, Trashmouth?”

“How dare you?” Richie replies, but he’s grinning, relieved that Eddie seems more like himself. He presses a quick, chaste kiss to Eddie’s mouth and then pulls away, searching for his car keys so he can get to work. “You’re a great father, Eddie Kaspbrak, you know I’m right.”

“I thought it was Eddie Tozier now?” Eddie calls back, grinning slightly like he always does when Richie brings up their shared name. 

“Mmm, nope. I’m divorcing you– I want your mom instead. She’s irresistible.”

Eddie fakes a gag. “Don’t even joke about that. And get the fuck out of here, you’re gonna be late, what kind of example are you setting?”

“Follow your dreams and kiss the person you love?” Richie looks a mess standing in front of the door in his baggy jeans and shirt with the buttons done up wrong, but his manager will probably show up in pyjamas with last night’ swarm beer, so it’s not that big of a deal. Eddie rolls his eyes again as Richie blows him one last kiss before disappearing, and a few moments later the rumble of his car engine fades into silence.

Maybe he’s right. Freddy hasn’t been here all that long, and he’s bound to need some time to get comfortable with them. They’d both read his file, of course, with social services breathing down their neck, and whilst his previous home life wasn’t the worst, it certainly wasn’t the best. Eddie has no idea how long it will take him to feel secure here, to know that they aren’t going to send him away, but he does know for a fact that they’ll be here to reassure him for as long as he needs.

Provided nothing gets in their way. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for any typos! I’m so desperate to get this out into the world that I can’t stand to look at it anymore lol. Hope you enjoy! <3

When things go well for Freddy, he tends to question them. He’d like to say that it’s not his fault, that it comes from being a foster kid and growing up with a chronic disability. Never having a stable home or a stable family or a stable education will do that to a person, he figures, will make them doubt themselves whenever things do go their way.

Things have been going pretty fucking great for Freddy this past week. _Billy heartthrob Batson_ has been talking to him. _Him!_ It started with a casual “hey” if they walked past each other in school and then, yesterday, out of nowhere, Billy just came and sat down with him at lunch. It’s by far the strangest thing to happen in Freddy’s life to date, and he doesn’t want to doubt it, but he is. 

It’s not just that, is the thing. Life has been going well with Richie and Eddie, and Freddy doesn’t want to trust it because the rug will inevitably be pulled out from under him soon enough. He managed to sit with them for a whole evening and watch a film - Richie’s choice, not great - without having to make conversation, and the next day he’d found a new pair of headphones sitting on his pillow. He’d left for school early the following morning and left them a thank you note on the kitchen table, the most heartfelt Freddy could probably get. He’s happy here, and he’d really like to stay here.

Which is why it makes perfect sense when things start to get better and worse at the same time. It starts with a man in the kitchen window.

Freddy is standing at the sink when it happens. Eddie has told him plenty of times that he doesn’t need to wash up, but this is the only family he’s been with that hasn’t given him a list of chores or ways to help around the house, and he doesn’t like feeling thrown off balance. He insists, and Richie makes jokes about being a human dishwasher, and it’s all good.

And then, out of fucking nowhere, a man Freddy has never seen before pops up behind the window and says, “Don’t scream!”

So of course, Freddy screams.

There’s a loud crash from the other room and then two sets of thundering footsteps heading towards the kitchen. It’s nice to know that Eddie and Richie would drop whatever they were doing - literally - to come and help him out, and if there wasn’t a potential serial killer outside the window right now he’d take a moment to think more about that. As it is, he’s a little preoccupied.

“Oh my god, Freddy, I said _don’t_ scream!” The potential serial killer exclaims, like _he_ has any right to be annoyed with Freddy. There’s a sudden banging sound from behind Freddy and he spins around, heart beating wildly in his chest, in time to see Richie skid on the floor and land on his ass in the doorway. Eddie, running in behind him, topples over him and ends up face first onto the floor. 

Their intention was good, at least.

“Freddy, don’t freak out!” The stranger whispers, and then, weirdest of all, “It’s me. It’s _Billy!”_

“What?” Freddy hisses in disbelief, but the man has already ducked below the window and disappeared into the darkness.

“What?” Richie cries, stumbling his way into an upright position and holding out a hand to pull Eddie up.

“What?” Freddy echoes, not sure what the hell he's supposed to do in this situation. On the one hand, it’s kind of suspicious that a stranger he’s never met before knows both Freddy’s name and the name of his friend. On the other hand, it’s not _that_ suspicious. It probably means Freddy is being stalked, and he should absolutely tell Richie and Eddie.

He doesn’t.

It could be the biggest mistake he’s ever made, but fuck it, Freddy is curious. Things have been going so well recently, life has just been going his way, and he wants to take a chance on this as well. He swallows and shakes the bubbles off his hands as he turns to address his foster parents.

“I’m sorry, it’s nothing. I saw an owl in the window. Spooked me.” He gives an awkward fake laugh, hoping it’s convincing enough that Eddie doesn’t go running out there with a baseball bat. Freddy is probably going to need that baseball bat for when he goes out there himself like an idiot. 

“Are you sure?” Eddie asks, breathless, rubbing a spot on his lower back where a bruise will likely form tomorrow. Freddy can’t help but smile fondly when Eddie continues with, “Do you want me to go out and check?”

 _“No!”_ Freddy cries, far too enthusiastic. Richie blinks in surprise, looks between Eddie and Freddy slowly like he’s trying to figure something out. Freddy laughs uncomfortably. “For real, it’s alright. I’ll, um, I’ll just finish this up here. You guys go relax.”

“Are you sure you’re alright, Freddy?” Eddie asks, concerned. Freddy grinds his teeth together, fighting the sudden, unexpected urge to cry. What is it about these people that catches him so off guard? It must be their genuine concern for his wellbeing, that’s something Freddy hasn’t encountered much before. 

“Totally,” He says. _Thank you,_ he thinks, _say thank you. Tell them you appreciate it._ “I’m fine.”

He watches in guilty silence as they shuffle out of the room and then, when he’s finally on his own, spins around and bangs on the window with a soapy fist. There’s no response and Freddy still has dishes to wash but he has to find out what the hell is going on or he’s not going to be able to focus on anything. His heart is pounding as he fumbles for his crutch and leans on it heavily as he struggles towards the door. He’s been having a good week, with regards to his leg and the pain it usually causes him, and he doesn’t want to screw that up by prompting it.

He manages to slip outside without attracting too much attention. They must think he’s in the middle of a breakdown or something but he’ll have to deal with that problem later– or not. He could just leave it to fester and die out eventually, like he does with most of the problems that he can ignore. 

It’s cold outside, and he’s only dressed in a t-shirt with short sleeves so the evening chill makes him shiver. The handle of his crutch digs painfully into his forearm and he’s looking around but he can’t see anyone. Did he imagine all of that? Or maybe it really was just a stalker and he’s waiting in the bushes for Freddy to turn his back before he jumps out and kidnaps him.

Yeah, that’s probably more likely.

But then he hears a soft, insistent noise from behind him. He turns around with a rapidly growing anxiety to see the same face that appeared at the window, this time peeking out from between the leaves in the bush by their house. Freddy watches as he crawls out and scrapes his palms against the gravel, cursing when he finally escapes and dusts himself off. 

“Hey, stop!” Freddy is not a very intimidating person in general and so his attempts at threatening this fully grown man probably won’t go very far, but thankfully the stranger stops where he is and holds his hands up like he’s surrendering. “Who the fuck are you?”

“It’s me!” The man says defensively, like Freddy is missing an obvious answer. Then his face does a funny thing, a sort of wince combined with frustrated anger, and he continues with, “Billy!”

Freddy rolls his eyes. That’s what he’d said at the window and Freddy would have thought the few minutes it took him to distract Eddie and Richie and then to get outside would have given this guy longer to think up a fake story.

“Right, sure.” He says sarcastically. If worst comes to worst, he can always hit the guy over the head with his crutch. 

“No, I’m serious!” He says again, and this time some uncomfortable feeling starts to build up in Freddy’s stomach. He doesn’t like how genuine this man seems to be, doesn’t like the panic in his eyes, doesn’t like the way that he doesn’t seem to be doing anything other than just standing there and trying to convince Freddy he isn’t lying.

“Yeah?” Freddy cocks his head, challenging. “Prove it, huh?”

“Fuck, okay,” the man starts, lowering his hands to his sides and looking about from side to side. He’s dressed in a completely ridiculous outfit, with a flowing cape and some sort of weird emblem on the chest. Freddy will be lucky if he gets away with his life tonight.

“Your name is Freddy Freeman,” he begins. “You go to high school with me, we ate lunch together the other day. You had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with chocolate milk. Um, you’re obsessed with superheroes? You live with your foster parents and you’re worried they’re gonna send you away soon. You–”

“Alright, alright, _stop!”_ Freddy gapes. Either this guy really is a stalker and a creep, or it’s Billy and he’s telling the truth. But that’s impossible…

“What the fuck happened?” Freddy asks again, still refusing to get any closer. He’s close enough to the house that he could probably make it to the front door before anyone caught up with him.

“I don’t know!” Maybe-Billy exclaims, looking panicked again. “I was on the subway and then lights started flashing and suddenly I was in a cave and this wizard guy held out a stick and told me to say Shazam–”

There’s a blinding flash of light that leaves flashing imprints on Freddy’s eyelids. When the ringing in his ears has stopped, he looks back to find regular fourteen year old Billy Batson staring back at him in utter bewilderment. 

“Holy shit,” Freddy whispers, drawn closer instinctively. “You’re a superhero.”

“I didn’t know where else to go.” Billy replies in what could possibly be called a whine, but to Freddy it’s the best sound he’s ever heard. His crush has super powers _and_ said that Freddy was the first person he thought to tell. This is a legendary day.

“Well we have to test your powers!” Freddy says, with boundless enthusiasm. Billy looks remarkably less pleased.

“For real?” He asks, as though Freddy’s suggestion is a chore. It should be annoying, but his cluelessness just makes him all the more endearing.

“Yes, for real! How else are we supposed to know what you can do?”

“So,” Billy looks at him, has to bend his neck a little because Freddy hasn’t quite reached his growth spurt yet. “This doesn’t freak you out? I didn’t know if I could tell anyone, y’know? I was just worried of what they would think, but you’re– I mean, you’re cool with it?”

“Billy,” Freddy rolls his eyes, resists the urge to throw his arms around Billy’s neck and hug him and never let go. “You’re such a huge dork, oh my god. This is _incredible._ You don’t have to worry, I won’t tell anyone, but I’m– I’m glad you told me.” He accompanies the words with a small, sweet smile. Maybe he’s putting himself out there too much, maybe Billy will get freaked out by the prospect of a gay kid having a crush on him, but in the end it’s worth it for the smile he gets in return. 

“So you just… say Shazam? And it happens?” Freddy continues, eager to steer the conversation away from sappy shit that will have him blushing like an idiot. 

“Yeah!” Billy says, surprisingly excited now. Maybe all he needed was someone to reassure him, Freddy thinks, and his heart soars at the prospect of him being that someone. “I just say Shazam and–”

The flash of light comes again, and damn, Freddy isn’t going to get used to that any time soon. Nor is he going to be able to get used to the sight of Billy, his friend, his _crush,_ looking like an adult. It’s awkward and more than a little uncomfortable to be this scrawny, short kid in comparison, with his crutch and his messy hair and his distinct lack of superpowers. He considers saying something about it but it would only make Billy more aware of how uncool Freddy is, and besides, before he gets the opportunity to even think about it there’s a noise from the other side of the street and they turn to look in time to see Mike Hanlon standing on the front steps to his house.

Mike is Richie and Eddie’s neighbour, and a friend of theirs dating back years. Freddy doesn’t know the whole story but he’s met Mike a couple times when he first moved in, knows that he’s close with Freddy’s foster family, knows that he probably considers himself an uncle or a godfather or something. Shit.

“Hi!” Freddy squeaks, lifting his arm in a panic and waving from across the street. Billy looks between Freddy and Mike with growing concern, and Freddy feels awful. He wants to take Billy’s fear and make it so that he never has to feel that way again, but he can’t do anything about it with Mike watching. 

“Hey there, Freddy.” He says, arms crossed over his chest. His tone is friendly but he’s glaring at Billy like he’s plotting something nasty, and Billy may look like an adult but he’s still very much a fourteen year old. The sight of Mike with his big muscles and intimidating stance has got to be a terrifying experience. 

“It’s a little late to be out, isn’t it?” Mike continues, crossing the road and coming to a standstill in front of both of them. “Why don’t you go inside, hmm?”

“I was just about to!” Freddy defends himself, hoping desperately that Mike will keep this to himself even though he knows it’s practically inevitable that Eddie and Richie will find out now. “I was just, um, saying goodbye.”

“Who’s your friend, Freddy?” Mike’s glare is icy when he turns it on Billy and, okay, fair enough, he knows how this looks but Mike could not be further from the truth right now.

“Just– he’s just,” Freddy starts, and then has no idea how to finish that. It’s not like he can say ‘someone I know from school.’

“We met at the comic book store!” Billy exclaims suddenly, his voice startling both Freddy and Mike. His eyes dart around wildly for an escape route and eventually settle on Freddy, as though pleading for him to get him out of this horribly awkward situation. 

“Yeah, that’s right!” Freddy confirms. “The comic book store. But he was just leaving, actually, so...”

“Why don’t you just go inside, Freddy, and I’ll have a little talk with your friend. Is that alright?”

“Oh god,” Billy murmurs, and then blinks in surprise like he didn’t mean to say it out loud. “Um, I really have to go. Sorry, but I’ll see you around.” At Freddy’s non-subtle gesture, Billy shakes his head suddenly. “Or not! Probably not, actually. Anyway, um, bye!”

Both Mike and Freddy watch Billy turn and run down the street, skidding as he rounds the corner and disappears from sight. Freddy wonders how suspicious it would be if he legged it after him. It would definitely make this whole situation with Mike worse, but at least he could escape the awkward conversation that’s about to happen.

“Freddy,” Mike begins, and that’s all Freddy allows him to say.

“Hey, so it was really nice to see you, Mr Hanlon.” Freddy leans on his crutch and uses his other hand to wave an odd goodbye. It’s not as if he can hurry away with his disability and all and it’s painfully embarrassing to know that Mike is watching him hobble away, choosing not to follow him rather than being unable to. All the same, it’s a huge relief by the time he’s in bed and away from everyone else. His heart is pounding in his chest and he’s still trying - and failing - to wrap his head around everything that just happened.

He reaches for his phone to text Billy and can’t keep from grinning stupidly when he sees he already has a message waiting for him.

_‘That was fucking insane, who was that guy?! Do you think he suspected anything?? I’m all shazamed back to normal now, phew. You wanna meet up tomorrow? We could test this shit out like you wanted? Thanks for your help Freddy, you were the only person I wanted to tell :)’_

Freddy’s heart fucking melts at that smiley face, as ridiculous as it is, and he wants to send back a message comprised entirely of love hearts. He doesn’t, of course, because that would be creepy 

_‘Definitely meet up tomorrow, we can skip school? I’m glad you told me dude :)’_

Freddy doesn’t give a shit about skipping school. If Richie or Eddie find out then he’ll just say he got sick and came home early on the public bus. He throws in a ‘dude’ to keep things casual and heterosexual, to hide his non-casual gay feelings.

Whatever tomorrow may bring, Freddy is fucking ready for it.

***

Mike comes to visit them in the morning, after Freddy has left for school. This is unusual in and of itself, because Mike rarely just drops by, let alone at ungodly hours of the morning. When Richie answers the door he knows straight away, just from the look on Mike’s face, that something is wrong.

“What’s up?” Eddie asks, once Mike has followed Richie back into the kitchen. Mike shuffles his feet uncomfortably and Eddie stands up, apparently as freaked out as Richie is. “Mike?”

“Listen,” Mike starts. “I can’t stay long. I have to be at the library in half an hour, but I needed to tell you without Freddy around.”

Richie’s heart does an uncomfortable flip in his chest at the mention of their foster son. He’d seemed fine this morning, great even, happier than they’d seen him since they met him, and other than that odd experience yesterday evening nothing out of the ordinary has happened. At least, Richie doesn’t _think_ it has…

“Yesterday, I saw Freddy, just outside the house. He was with some guy. A much older man. Now, I’m not saying anything’s going on, but they were both acting really suspicious. I thought I should tell you, just in case.”

There’s a horrible, gaping silence in which Richie swears he blacks out a little bit and Eddie goes disturbingly still next to him. Mike looks very somber, like he’d rather be anywhere else, and Richie realises that he can’t let the panic built up like this any longer.

“Yeah, of course, man.” Richie nods, pats Mike on the back in thanks because Eddie is frozen and it’s clear he’s not going to respond any time soon. Richie sees Mike to the door in a haze of confusion so thick that it takes him by surprise when Mike catches his wrist and leans in close.

“I didn’t mean to freak him out, man.” He says, voice low and apologetic. Richie swallows, hard. “I just didn’t know what to think. If anything happened and I hadn’t done anything…”

“I’m glad you told us, Mikey.” Richie says in a similar tone, thinking that he wishes he’d never known, hopes to god nothing has already happened. Shutting the door behind Mike and heading back to Eddie seems like an impossible task with the new knowledge he’s been given, and he knows he shouldn’t assume anything, but it’s hard not to. Freddy is just so _quiet,_ all the time. Would be even say anything if something _had_ happened?

“Okay, before you say anything–” Richie tries to diffuse the situation before it can really begin. As he expected, it doesn’t work very well.

“Oh my god,” Eddie is chanting over and over again like a mantra. His arms flap in panic and his breathing is coming in uneven gasps like he might reach for his old inhaler at any moment. “Oh my god, Richie, what the _fuck?”_

“We don’t even know anything about it yet.” Richie says, trying to be the reasonable one for once. “Let’s not assume anything, okay? We can just ask him when he gets home.”

“We’ve failed. We’ve failed as parents. Oh _god.”_ Eddie whines. Richie captures both of Eddie’s hands in his own and holds them stil, pressing a kiss to each knuckle.

“We haven’t failed, Eddie, please don’t jump to conclusions.”

“I’m pretty sure the first rule of fostering a child is _don’t_ let them get molested by some fucking street pedo, Richie! Holy fuck, what are we gonna do? How did we let this happen?” 

“You’re not thinking straight!” Richie tries again, and gulps at the glare he receives for that. “I just mean… we have no clue what happened. It could have been someone Freddy met with a previous family. Maybe he really did just run into an old friend.”

“At nine o’clock in the evening outside our house?” Eddie replies in disbelief. Okay, that evidence is a bit damning, but Richie isn’t going to say that in front of Eddie.

“Let’s just wait until he gets home, alright?” Richie repeats, going with the safest tactic. “Go to work, come back home at lunchtime so we’re here when he gets back from school. Then we can ask him ourselves.”

Eddie nods and sinks down onto the sofa. Richie knows that going to work is the last thing Eddie wants to do right now, and he sure as hell won’t be able to focus on anything after this, but it beats having a breakdown yet again about Freddy Freeman.

The day drags on and on and on. Just when Richie thinks he’s about to lose his damn mind, his lunch break is rolling around and he’s in the car within minutes, definitely breaking some speed regulations in his hurry to get back to Eddie. They’re both home early, of course they are, and Richie has to remind Eddie why it would be a complete breach of privacy to go through Freddy’s private belongings. 

Time ticks by. Four o’clock comes and goes and there’s still no sign of Freddy. At around half past, Richie sends him a text message that goes unanswered and fifteen minutes later Eddie calls him, but it goes to voicemail. It’s only about a month in, and they’ve already lost their foster hold with no idea as to where he might be. Eddie is a _terrible_ parent.

“No you’re not,” Richie rubs his back comfortingly. He may be freaking out on the inside, but if there’s one thing they absolutely don’t need, it’s for Eddie to hyperventilate. “Kids are like this, Eds. Remember when we were teenagers? How many times did we miss curfew, huh? You probably gave your mom a billion heart attacks by the time you turned eighteen, but you were always fine.”

“Shit was different back then, Rich!” Eddie argues, letting his head drop into his hands. “It was _safer!_ Who knows where he is right now? He could be dead in a ditch somewhere and it would be our fault!”

“Eddie, you’re being–” Richie never gets to finish his sentence, which is undoubtedly for the best, because just then they hear the click of the door opening and shutting, and quiet footsteps heading inside. Eddie stands upright so suddenly that the chair topples backwards and Richie follows him into the entrance hurriedly.

“Where have you been?” Eddie demands. Freddy looks taken aback. His backpack is still hanging off one shoulder like it was when he left for school but he has a cut on his cheekbone and a dark bruise around his eye. Richie’s stomach drops.

“I– I didn’t think you guys would be home yet.” He stammers guiltily.

“Freddy…” he breathes. Freddy swallows and drops his backpack onto the ground heavily.

“Um, I’m really sorry.” He says, like him skipping school is even the worst thing. 

“Mike said he saw you with some old man.” Eddie blurts out suddenly. Richie turns on him in bewilderment - they had been planning to aim for _casual_ \- and Eddie’s eyes widen in surprise as well.

“What?” He breathes anxiously.

“We just want to make sure you’re okay.” Richie cuts in. Since when did they take roles for the good cop bad cop routine? Richie isn’t happy with the way things have turned out. “You understand why it’s kind of… worrying, right?”

“I just…” Freddy flounders, and Richie knows that his next words are going to be a lie before he’s even spoken. “I just ran into him. He works at the comic book store. He just stopped to say hi. I know how it looks, but I promise, it wasn’t anything like what you’re thinking.”

It’s the most Freddy has ever said to him in one go, and Richie wishes that could have happened in any other situation. Evidently Eddie can also tell he’s lying, because he crosses his arms over his chest and tilts his chin defiantly like he’s always done when he worries.

“And your face? What happened to that? Who hurt you? And why were you late from school? Did you skip? Did someone persuade you to skip? Freddy, if you need help–”

“Jesus, I don’t need help!” Freddy cries out, cheeks colouring red. Richie stays silent and awkward, caught in the middle, wanting to be peacemaker but not knowing how.

“Freddy, if you don’t _talk to us_ what can we do?” Eddie asks again. He’s so clearly upset and it breaks Richie’s heart, but it’s obvious that Freddy is upset as well and if he comforts one he risks upsetting the other. He wants Freddy to tell them what the fuck has been going on but bullying an answer out of him isn’t going to work, and Eddie’s finding that out the hard way.

“I don’t want to talk to you!” Freddy yells back in anger, before turning towards the stairs and stomping away as well as he can with his crutch. It actually makes him seem like more of a normal teenager, and it would be reassuring to see if it was any other situation. As soon as he’s gone, Eddie slumps onto the sofa and groans.

“Well that was fucking fantastic.” He complains. “What are we going to do?”

Richie has no idea.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the long wait! Hope you enjoy <3

A few days pass before Freddy says more than two words to his foster parents. Things have been awkward around the house and he’s been doing his best to sneak about, to avoid them as much as possible. Maybe it’s a little juvenile, but Freddy’s cheeks still flush with embarrassment when he thinks of how their last conversation went down, how he acted. He’ll be lucky if they don’t get rid of him soon, decide he’s not a ‘good fit’ and send him away. 

It makes him feel even worse that in the first conversation he has with them after their whole argument, he’s asking for a favour.

“Um, Richie?” He approaches Richie first, even though they’re in the same room, because he feels worse around Eddie. The guy was just trying to keep him safe and Freddy screamed in his face. As a result, Richie is probably less likely to tell him to go fuck himself.

Richie seems startled that Freddy said anything in the first place. His head shoots up from where he’d been scrolling through his phone, and he looks between Freddy and Eddie for a brief moment in what seems to be confusion. Then he says, “Freddy! Hi!”

“Hi,” Freddy replies, leaning more heavily on his crutch. His leg has started to hurt again, like a response to the stress of the situation. “I was wondering if– maybe, um, could I have a friend round for dinner tomorrow?”

Billy has been pestering to come round for days now. They’ve been hanging out a lot more and Freddy is constantly worried that his huge, embarrassing crush is going to become obvious, but Billy just seems to want to spend more time with him. It’s amazing and terrifying but if Billy wants to meet his foster family, then Freddy can make that happen, however awkward it’ll be. 

“You have– of course!” Richie cuts himself off halfway through, even though Freddy is surprised himself that he has friends and finds Richie’s surprise funny more than insulting. “Yeah, definitely! Who’s your friend? We’d love to meet them.”

A quick glance over at Eddie confirms that he’s listening. He’s sat up in his chair now, the newspaper he was reading resting open in his lap. He’s watching Freddy and Richie interact with an unreadable expression. Freddy feels another pang of guilt that he pushes to the back of his mind and ignores. 

“His name’s Billy. He’s… a friend from school.” _A superhero_ doesn’t quite have the same ring to it. Freddy decides to play it safe.

And then, the next evening when the doorbell rings and Billy is waiting outside with an actual bouquet of flowers, Freddy isn’t so sure he should have agreed to this. It’s _too much._ Seeing Billy standing out there like he’s about to pick someone up for prom is giving Freddy too many thoughts, and none of them are platonic. 

Unfortunately, he doesn’t get the chance to slam the door in Billy’s face and call the whole thing off, because the next thing he knows Richie is pushing past him and greeting Billy with overeager enthusiasm. 

“Mr Tozier!” Billy exclaims, probably overwhelmed. Freddy had told him both of their names the day before, but if he insists on being so polite then that’s his own problem. “It’s so nice to meet you.”

“Oh, call me Richie.” He replies. “Only my husband calls me Mr Tozier.” Billy blinks, confused and unsure how to respond, and Freddy contemplates putting his head in his hands. Or jumping out of the window to stop all of this - that would work too. 

Richie looks between them awkwardly. He’s used to his jokes falling flat, but he isn’t used to his foster son’s friends being the ones to shame him. After a few uncomfortable seconds, Richie claps his hands.

“Okay then,” he says. “Why don’t you guys go sit down and we’ll be through in a second.”

As soon as Richie is out of earshot, Freddy turns on Billy. “This is such a terrible idea, oh my god. I can’t believe you got me to do this.”

“Dude, relax! He seems nice.”

“He seems crazy.”

Billy gives him a small smile and shrugs. “Crazy can be nice.” They don’t really talk about Billy’s home life. Freddy knows that Billy is in care as well but he’s never started a conversation about it and Freddy doesn’t want to make him uncomfortable. Now though, he wishes he knew a little more, if only so he could understand the look on Billy’s face.

“Come on then,” he sighs, gesturing for Billy to follow him. “We’d better sit down or they’ll start to spy on us.” Freddy isn’t joking, but Billy laughs anyway. 

“I hope you like pizza and interrogations.” Freddy says, lowering himself into a seat carefully and propping his crutch up against the side of the table. He tries not to think about the way Billy keeps a gentle hand between his shoulder blades the whole time. It’s too sweet. 

“Dude, you’re like…” Billy trails off and looks around the room, first at Freddy’s school books scattered across the living room coffee table and then at the photos above the mantelpiece: Richie and Eddie wearing matching suits and smiles. Freddy assumes that was their wedding day, but he’s never asked. 

“What?” Freddy prompts. He can hear Eddie and Richie speaking lowly in the kitchen, knows that they’ll come in any second. 

“I don’t know,” Billy fiddles with his drink before eventually bringing it to his lips. He pauses, the rim of the glass resting on his bottom lip. “It just seems like… your home, you know?”

Freddy doesn’t know what he means by that, but he doesn’t have enough time to ask for an explanation. The next thing he knows, Richie and Eddie are tumbling into the room, glancing at each other and smiling like they’re kids protecting a secret. Freddy rolls his eyes.

“So, Billy!” Richie begins, sitting down to eat. “How did you guys meet?”

Eddie smothers his smile against the palm of his hand. It isn’t like him not to be asking the questions, Freddy thinks, and then realises he must still be feeling awkward about their argument the other day. Freddy still feels awkward as well, but he didn’t know it had affected Eddie so much. He bites the inside of his cheek to keep from feeling guilty.

“Oh,” Billy looks between Richie and Freddy uncertainly before he answers. “Um, at school? We’re in a few of the same classes. And we get on the same bus, so.”

Freddy nods along, as though Billy’s story requires verification. “Yeah,” he adds, not even sure what he’s overcompensating for. “We really just bonded over a… mutual love of superheroes.”

Billy’s surprised laugh turns into a cough when he chokes on his food. Eddie has to reach over and pat him on the back a few times before he can breathe again properly. 

“That’s cool,” Richie nods. Inwardly, Freddy cringes. He’s never had the ‘parents embarrassing you’ experience so he never realised how awful it could be. Now he just wants to sink into the floor. “So you guys are… good friends.”

“Um, yes.” Billy nods again, clearly confused. “Yeah, I would say so. You think so, Freddy?” He catches Freddy’s eye and grins knowingly. Freddy must be missing something here.

“Well, yeah, sure,” he says sulkily, watching grease drip from the end of a pizza slice. “That’s kinda why he’s here.”

“Uh huh,” Richie nods. There’s a muffled thumping sound and then Eddie hisses, _‘ow!’_ It’s not hard to figure out that Richie kicked him under the table, and it’s not hard to believe either.

The rest of the dinner passes in mostly the same way. Freddy has a permanent flush to his cheeks, Billy answers weird, vague questions from Richie and Eddie sits there watching everything unfold with a sly smile the whole time. It feels like a lifetime has passed before everyone has finished and Freddy hurts himself with how fast he stands up.

“Okay,” he says. “We’re gonna go up to my room now. Thanks for dinner, guys.”

“Oh– wait, don’t you want dessert? Freddy, your friend wants dessert!” Richie calls after them, but Freddy has already grabbed Billy’s wrist and is in the process of tugging him towards the stairs.

“I kinda would like dessert, actually.” Billy laughs when they’re finally alone in Freddy’s room. Thankfully, he only moves to shut the door behind them.

“Shut up, oh my god.” Freddy groans, falling back onto the bed. “That was so _awkward,_ why would you make me do that?”

“You invited me!” Billy argues, fighting a smile. Freddy hates that he finds it adorable.

“You forced me to. I’m a victim of peer pressure!” Billy interrupts Freddy’s melodramatic whining by crawling onto the bed beside him and laying down.

“Shut up, you loser,” he laughs. “It was fun. Your parents are weird, but they seem really nice. They care about you a lot.”

“Foster parents,” Freddy corrects absentmindedly, trying not to think about how their pinky fingers are touching. “And they care about me too much– it’s weird. They’ve only known me for like, a month. They seriously freaked out after Mr Hanlon saw me with you. Well… _other_ you. You know.”

“Did they try to talk to you about that?” Billy rolls into his side and props his head up on his hand. Freddy wants to do the same but he knows his leg would ache too much.

“Yeah,” he says. “A little. I shut them down though. Kind of yelled at them. I feel bad.”

“I’m sorry,” Billy says with a forlorn sigh. “You shouldn’t have to keep stuff from them because of me.”

“Dude,” Freddy does struggle into an upright position now, if only so Billy knows how serious he is. “I’m not telling them your secret. _We_ barely even know your secret yet. I mean, we don’t even really know what you can do.” An idea occurs to Freddy then, sneaking up on him from out of nowhere. He can’t believe they haven’t done this already… now he can’t stop thinking about it.

“Billy,” he says excitedly. “We have to test your powers. Right now, we have to– let’s go!”

“Woah, what?” Billy sits up properly. “Right now? It’s after dark, there’s no way your parents would let us. Besides, it could be… dangerous. I don’t want to hurt you by mistake, Freddy.”

Freddy is too caught up to even correct Billy with ‘foster parents’. “Don’t worry about hurting me, okay? I can take care of myself. You don’t get to pity me because I’m– because of my leg.”

Billy’s expression softens. “Freddy, that’s not– I’m sorry. That’s not what I meant. I’m not worried about you because of your leg. I’m worried about you because I _care_ about you. What if I hurt you? I’d– I wouldn’t know what to do, Freddy. I mean, who would I even tell? How could we explain that?”

It feels like someone is squeezing all the air out of him. To hear that Billy cares about him so openly is almost overwhelming. Freddy holds out a hand to cup Billy’s cheek and at the last minute changes course, instead letting it fall on Billy’s shoulder in a reassuring gesture.

“I’ll stay out of the way.” Freddy promises. “We’ll be careful. We’ll document everything. Billy, we’ve got to test your abilities! I shouldn’t even be a factor, okay?”

Billy still looks hesitant, but Freddy knows by the look on his face that he’s coming around. “What about your parents, though? They wouldn’t let us leave.”

Freddy hates that he’s right, especially after Mr Hanlon saw him with an older looking Billy. They won’t trust two teenagers to be responsible outside after dark if they’re already worried about him. Freddy chews on his lip as he tries to come up with a plan.

“I mean,” he starts. “You could go out the window. I don’t know about me.”

They’re both silent for a brief moment. Despite the conundrum they’ve been faced with, Freddy likes feeling close to Billy like this. They don’t need to talk to have this feeling of intimacy - they just need to be close. That’s all Freddy wants: to be close to Billy. His crush is really getting out of hand.

“I could catch you,” Billy says suddenly, surprising Freddy out of his reverie. 

“What?”

“If I go out the window first, then I Sha– then I _change,”_ he lowers his voice and dips his head closer to Freddy’s to say it, like it’s a dirty word. It would be funny if it wasn’t so risky. “Then you come out, and I’ll catch you.”

“I don’t know…” Freddy looks down at his leg pointedly. As much as he hates to admit it can be a weakness, he can’t help but think it at times like these. His hands curl into fists almost unconsciously and he digs his nails into his palms, swallowing the sting of tears. It’s humiliating, not to mention so fucking _annoying,_ to have it get in the way of something yet again.

Billy surprises him yet again by reaching out and taking Freddy’s hands in his own. Slowly, he unfurls Freddy’s fingers and his thumb brushes over the tender flesh of his palm where his nails have left little crescent indents. 

“Do you trust me?” Billy asks softly. 

Freddy does. He decides to jump. 

***

Richie has been in love with Eddie for decades. They grew up together, did practically everything together from the day they met, and while they’ve had their fair share of arguments, life has been pretty much okay.

Until now. If Eddie asks him to _‘go check on them’_ one more time, he’s going to lose his mind.

“Being a helicopter parent won’t help anything.” He sighs, even as he’s getting up from his seat. Eddie isn’t going to stop until he gets his way, and Richie has always given in to Eddie’s requests.

“You know,” he continues. “You could go check on them yourself, if you’re so worried.”

“He doesn’t like me,” Eddie’s shoulders droop. He slumps against the sofa, taking up the space Richie just vacated. “If he sees me snooping, he’ll just hate me more.”

“Eddie,” Richie groans. “He doesn’t hate you. He’s just nervous, and awkward. Aren’t we awkward as well? He just needs some time to be a normal teenager, okay?”

Eddie doesn’t say anything for a while. He chews on his bottom lip like he doesn’t even know he’s doing it and wrings his hands together in his lap. Richie hates seeing him like this. Eddie has never been shy before, never been sad like this. They’d been so excited to foster a child and Freddy had seemed like a great fit and now, seeing Eddie so disappointed in himself when he hadn’t even done anything wrong…

Richie is going to have to talk to Freddy as soon as Billy’s gone. He needs him to know that Eddie’s trying, that he wants them to get on.

He needs this to _work._ They all do.

Except, when he reaches Freddy’s bedroom, the door is shut and there’s no noise coming from inside. Richie reaches out for the doorknob with a growing sense of unease - if there really were two teenage boys in there, they wouldn’t be deathly silent like this. Even as he’s opening the door and looking at the empty room before him, Richie is hoping to be wrong. 

He makes sure to check the whole room before he even thinks about going back down to Eddie. The window is open and Richie has no clue how Freddy snuck out with his leg hurting like it does, but that’s not the main issue right now. There are two teenage boys running around the city in the dark, and Richie has to find them. He knew being responsible for a child would be difficult. Apparently being responsible for two - even temporarily - is a fucking nightmare.

No, Richie thinks quickly, that part is just terrifying. The nightmare is going to be explaining this situation to Eddie.

He takes the stairs two at a time, despite his reluctance to tell Eddie. There’s probably a reasonable explanation for this. Teenagers sneak out of the house all the time, especially to impress their friends, and when it comes down to it Freddy just wants to be a normal teenager. Still, Eddie isn’t going to like that at all. He’ll panic and he’ll convince himself that Freddy is in some mortal danger and then he’ll slip into a self loathing gloom where he tells himself over and over again that this is _his fault, all his fault._

Yeah, this isn’t going to be fun. He has to do it, though, because after pausing on the last step to call Freddy’s mobile and being sent to voicemail, Richie is beginning to worry himself.

“Richie?” Eddie calls, poking his head out of the kitchen. Richie catches sight of him drying his hands on a tea towel, throwing it over the back of a chair, and he’s hit with a wave of affection, of domesticity. Eddie had wanted a family, and Richie had wanted Eddie to be happy, and this just seems like it has been stressing him out more and more. Richie hates to see the man he loves upset, especially when there’s nothing he can do about it.

But how can he find a balance between Eddie and Freddy? Freddy is just being a normal teenager: dumb, reckless and ignoring the consequences of his actions. If social services find out that Freddy is hanging out with strange adults and sneaking out windows in Richie and Eddie’s care, the placement is in danger. Eddie is being a normal first time parent, albeit with a little extra worry thanks to his mother’s parenting style: overprotective, scared and strict. Richie is just trying to make the whole _family_ thing work as best it can.

“Richie?” Eddie calls again, stepping out of the kitchen and heading towards the stairs. He sounds worried now, and Richie’s heart plummets.

“Eds?” Richie closes the distance between them and clasps Eddie’s hands between his own. This is not going to be easy, he thinks, and even as he’s thinking the words he’s already imagining how to set the situation right again.

“What’s happened?” Eddie asks, stricken. He doesn’t try to pull his hands away which is a relief but he lets them go slack in Richie’s grasp.

“I’m sure everything is fine,” Richie feels cruel stalling. He feels like he’s just drawing out Eddie’s anxiety, prolonging the inevitable. “They’re just being dumb kids. I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about.”

But that’s the thing: he’s not. Eddie has been acting so weird lately, and tonight at dinner he was just different. Richie couldn't put his finger on how he was different - he just was. Richie isn’t sure of anything at all.

 _“Richie!_ What’s going on?” Eddie demands, finally yanking his hands back and staggering away from Richie. He backs into the wall behind him and doesn’t even seem to register the impact. 

Richie sighs. “Don’t panic,” he says pointlessly. “Eds, please don’t panic, but I think…”

He takes a deep breath. Sets his shoulders. Faces Eddie and delivers the news.

“Freddy’s gone. They both are.”


	4. Chapter 4

Testing out Billy’s powers is, as Freddy so eloquently puts it, really fucking awesome. 

It doesn’t happen all at once, of course. Billy is nervous and hesitant and still kind of paranoid about hurting someone, but Freddy manages to persuade him to give every little thing a go. He made a list when he first found out of all the powers Billy could possibly have, and in an ideal world they’d be able to work their way down it. In reality, they don’t have a lot of time or a perfect place to try a lot of these things, but after about ten minutes of aimless wandering they come across a stretch of open ground.

Machinery is dotted around at various spots but it’s old and rusted, clearly abandoned. Freddy thinks they’ll be fine to test Billy out here. 

“You ready?” Freddy asks, lowering himself down onto an overturned hunk of machinery. Remarkably, jumping out of the window hadn’t resulted in his immediate death, but it still hadn’t been great for his leg.

“No?” Billy rubs his hands together. It’s weird, seeing him so nervous. He’s always seemed so confident and outgoing - at school, at Freddy’s house just now, he’s always been charming and sure of himself. Freddy feels like the world has been turned on his head.

“Billy,” He says, swallowing nervously when Billy sits down next to him. “You’ve got this. I mean, you’re a superhero.”

Billy scoffs and turns his face away.

“No, I mean...” Freddy trails off. He doesn’t want to give himself away - because complimenting Billy will inevitably turn into gushing, and that’s bound to reveal his big dumb crush - but he can’t just go on with life knowing Billy doesn’t think he’s absolutely incredible.

“What?” Bill prompts, and when Freddy looks, their faces are so much closer than he’d realised. His breath catches.

“I don’t just mean because of this,” Freddy says softly. “I don’t just mean that you’re a hero because of this. I mean in general. You’re... Billy, you’re incredible. If anybody can do this, it’s you. Okay?”

The world quietens around them. The setting sun casts shadows on Billy’s face in between the shimmering golden light, and he’s never looked as beautiful as he does now. Without thinking Freddy reaches out and takes Billy’s hand in his own, heart palpitating when Billy squeezes back. If Freddy was braver he would lean in, he’d cup Billy’s cheek and press their lips together–

Billy kisses him. Freddy is so surprised that he jerks backwards on instinct, and Billy stands up, horrified.

“Oh god,” he says, beginning to pace. “Freddy, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable or fuck anything up or anything like that. You were just– and I thought– and it was–”

“Billy!” Freddy has to interrupt him, because he’s working himself up into a frenzy. Billy freezes. “I’m too tired to stand up right now,” Freddy continues. “So you’re gonna have to sit down, because I wanna kiss you again.”

It’s endearing really, how quickly Billy’s face turns red. He sits down heavily, as though in a stupor, and doesn’t say anything as Freddy takes his hand. 

“Can I?” Freddy asks cautiously. That quick burst of confidence has disappeared, and now he’s left nervous and hesitant.

“Can you what?” 

“Kiss you again. I mean, do you want to?”

Billy nods, and that’s all Freddy needs. This is his first kiss: he doesn’t have any idea what he’s doing and he doesn’t want to do something wrong or scare Billy away, but he’s so happy he feels like crying. This is everything he’s dreamed about for so long. It’s more than the fact that he’s kissing the coolest guy in his grade, more even than the fact that said guy is a literal  _ superhero.  _ It’s the fact that he’s doing this with Billy that has him breathless. His hands are clammy but Billy doesn’t seem to mind because he’s still holding them and Freddy wishes that he could just stay this happy forever–

A noise behind them has Freddy pulling away in shock. Billy stands up and Freddy watches, heart pounding, as the bushes a few feet away start to rustle and a cat slinks away. 

“Oh my god,” Freddy groans. Billy snickers. “Don’t laugh! I was  _ scared!  _ What if it had been a serial killer, huh? Or worse, my foster parents?”

“Hanging out in a bush?” Billy raises an eyebrow. 

“I told you they were crazy,” Freddy says. 

Billy pauses. “What happens if they notice we’re gone?”

Freddy shrugs. “Probably nothing.” At Billy’s questioning expression, he elaborates. “I mean, I don’t know. It’s not like we really know each other that well. they’ll be worried, sure, but… it’s not like they can’t just send me back at any time if they get pissed at me.”

“You think they’d do that?”

Freddy shrugs again, wringing his hands in his lap. He doesn’t like talking about this to other people, sharing his insecurities and leaving himself vulnerable, but with Billy it feels safe.  _ He  _ feels safe. 

“Eddie wanted this perfect kid,” he says. “He doesn’t talk about it much - at least not in front of me - but I think he had a shit childhood, you know? His dad died and his mom was a psycho or something. He just wanted a normal, everyday kid to look after and love and instead they got me. And I’m… I’m so  _ not  _ perfect. Like, I can barely talk to them, and I make them so uncomfortable just by being in the same room as them. I wouldn’t blame them for sending me back. They deserve a normal family.”

“Freddy–” Freddy can’t bring himself to look at Billy when he speaks. His expression is too emotive, full of sympathy that Freddy doesn’t deserve. “There’s no such thing as a normal family. People like us know that better than anyone. But you can find family in the people around you. And… listen, I don’t want to overstep, okay? You know them way better than I do. But just now? When I was at your house? It kind of looked like they just want you to be happy.”

Freddy is quiet for a long time. He doesn’t want to think about this too much because every time he does, he just feels like a terrible person. He ruined their chances at having the family they wanted and he doesn’t deserve their love, or Billy’s affection. 

“It wouldn’t matter anyway,” Billy leans over to flick Freddy’s cheek. The somber silence is shattered and Freddy bats his hand away with a smile. “If it was a serial killer, I mean. I’m a superhero, remember? I could totally fight them off.”

Freddy is more grateful than he can say for the change of topic. Billy can always read his emotions on his face, always knows what to say. Freddy’s heart soars. 

“Not until you’ve practised your powers, you can’t.” Freddy reaches for his phone and opens up the camera. “I think we should start with super strength, how does that sound?”

As far as Freddy is concerned, Billy doesn’t have much of a choice. 

***

If they had just put the tracking app on Freddy’s phone like Eddie had wanted to from the beginning, they wouldn’t be in this mess now.

Obviously Eddie knows that that would have been a complete invasion of Freddy’s privacy and he hadn’t really been  _ serious  _ when he’d suggested it. The way Richie had reacted you’d think Eddie was coming up with new material for his special, but Eddie knows, despite everything, that it would be crossing the line.

Still, they’d all be a lot fucking calmer right now if they knew where Freddy was. 

They call Mike first - second, if you only count the thirteen missed calls on Freddy’s mobile as one time - because if anyone saw two teenage boys sneaking out the window and away down the street it would be him. He lives right opposite, he told them about Freddy and the stranger, they trust him.

And then Eddie is hit with another horrible wave of realisation, because if Freddy and Billy jumped out of the window, shouldn’t they be calling an ambulance? If Freddy has gone and broken the leg that he already had problems with then he could be lying in a gutter somewhere, unable to move, maybe even abandoned by his friend. God, that kid had seemed so  _ nice  _ when they were having dinner together, and now this? How has this happened  _ again? _

Eddie really is a terrible parent, and this was all a terrible idea.

“Gonna need you to calm down there, Eds,” Richie says. They’re sitting together in the back of Mike’s car and Richie’s leg is jittering up and down and Eddie thinks he might be about to throw up.

“Not a chance,” Eddie says tightly. 

“Any ideas where he might go?” Mike asks, a beacon of sanity. 

Eddie realises with a sickening jolt of shame that he doesn’t have any ideas. He has no clue where Freddy might like to hang out or spend time with his friends. He’s a terrible father and now not only Richie knows but Mike does as well.

“No,” Richie says quietly. “I don’t know.”

“There’s an old construction site I used to work on,” Mike says, filling up the silence. “Sometimes kids go to get drunk down there. We can check it out.”

“Freddy wouldn’t–” Eddie says, at the same time that Richie turns to him and says, “Would he–?”

“Fuck, Rich,” Eddie says. “What if this was all a mistake?”

“What are you talking about? Eddie,  _ no.” _

“But what if it’s a sign! This isn’t the first thing that’s happened. What if it’s… I don’t know, a sign we shouldn’t be parents?”

“He’s a teenager, Eddie. Teenagers do dumb shit. God knows we did enough dumb shit back when we were his age. Don’t you remember?”

“I never jumped out the fucking window or– or met up with some random middle aged man dressed up as a superhero.” Eddie knows he’s lashing out at the wrong person, knows there isn’t even a right person to lash out at in this situation, but he can't seem to stop himself. It’s always like this when he gets really worried: he panics, says something stupid and ends up hurting the people he cares about. 

“Okay, well let’s just wait before we assume the worst, okay?” Richie holds his hands up like he’s surrendering, like they aren’t on the same team. “He’s a teenage boy hanging out with his friend– of course he wanted to sneak out.”

“Aren’t you worried?” 

“Of  _ course  _ I’m worried!” The words escape Richie like he doesn’t even realise he’s saying them. “Of course I’m fucking worried, Eddie! You think this whole thing doesn’t scare the shit out of me? I’ve wanted to be a dad for years and I wanted to do this with you and it’s scary, and we’re gonna make mistakes and all we have to do is keep the kid safe and it looks like we can’t even do that. But Eddie, we’re new at this, okay? And you’ve  _ got  _ to give yourself a break. This isn’t the world punishing you, alright? This isn’t some cosmic fucking sign from the universe. This is a kid being a kid.” Richie sighs suddenly and drops his head into his hands. He looks so tired like this, the bags under his eyes deep set, the worry lines around his mouth more defined. “Listen, Eds, you’re gonna be a great father. You are. But you have to learn to  _ be a father.  _ I know it’s difficult because you– you only ever had Sonia, and she was a shitty role model, but that doesn’t mean you’re doomed to fail, and if you go into this thinking that every time a teenager does something dumb you’ve failed then… I don’t know what to tell you.”

Eddie sits back in his seat, a little shell shocked. Richie still isn’t looking at him so Eddie reaches out to take his hand. “Jesus, Rich,” he says guiltily. “I had no idea you were feeling like this.”

“It doesn’t matter right now.” Richie tries to brush his concern away, but Eddie can’t let him. Not after acting like a control freak for so long. 

“No, it does,” he insists, tugging at Richie’s sleeve. “They’re your feelings, idiot, of course they matter. Listen, I know I’ve been acting crazy lately, and that’s– that’s not fair on you. I’m sorry. I’m gonna– I’m gonna stop, okay?”

Richie is shaking his head before Eddie has even finished speaking. “No, Eds, you don’t have to  _ stop.  _ You’re gonna get better. Maybe that’s all parenting is, just getting better on the job.”

“Maybe,” for the first time in a long time, Eddie feels like a weight has been lifted from his shoulders. Despite the storm cloud of a missing child - two missing children - hanging over his head, Eddie almost feels as though he’s been given a second chance.

“Um,” Mike clears his throat awkwardly. “This is a beautiful moment and I’m really sorry to interrupt, but there’s the construction site and, uh, nobody’s there.”

Eddie and Richie turn to look in tandem at the empty area. A few moments ago, Eddie would have been ready to despair; now, though, he just feels more determined than ever to keep looking. He has to be strong, not just for Freddy but for Richie as well, who hid his own worries and fears for so long just so that he could take care of Eddie. 

“Right,” he says. “Where next?”

***

“Okay, so, what have we established so far?” Billy says, now walking around as his adult self without so much as a bruise on him. They’re heading towards the 7/11 at the end of Freddy’s street. They’ll head back in a minute, but Freddy just wants to see if they can get away with buying beer first. 

And so what if he wants to spend a bit more time with Billy? Nobody can blame him.

“Well,” Freddy struggles to keep up with him. It’s bad enough normally, but now that Billy has even longer legs it’s practically impossible. “You’re fireproof?”

“Thanks for that, by the way,” Billy rolls his eyes. “You could have warned me.”

“Would you have gotten in the box if I’d warned you?”

Billy doesn’t reply and Freddy takes that as the answer he was looking for. They approach the shop and he waits for Billy to go inside, following closely after. Billy looks weird enough as it is– even though the girl at the counter doesn’t much look like she’d care, Freddy doesn’t want to risk screwing up their plan.

“You go get it,” he whispers. “I’ll wait here.”

Billy nods and walks off, and Freddy is too busy looking after him to notice the bell above the door ringing as someone else walks in. He only realises that he isn’t alone over here when a familiar voice says,  _ “Freddy.” _

Freddy freezes. His eyes widen and slowly, slowly, he turns around. Eddie, Richie and Mike all stand in front of the door, arms crossed, frowns fixed on their faces. 

“Oh,” Freddy says. “Hi guys.”

He’s looking at Eddie when he speaks, already anticipating the lecture he’s going to get, but it’s Richie who replies.

_ “‘Hi guys’?”  _ He repeats incredulously.  _ “That’s  _ what you’re going with? You sneak out of the window for hours, ignore our calls and all you have to say is  _ hi guys.” _

Freddy gulps. He’s in deep shit no matter what, but whatever he says next could be important. It could make the difference between them sending him away and letting him stay with them. 

“Uh,” he says, panicked. “I didn’t think you’d notice?”

Freddy’s phone is in his pocket. He hasn’t looked at it since he finished filming Billy, and why not? Of  _ course  _ Richie and Eddie would try to call him when they couldn’t find him. Freddy should have seen this coming– he was just so distracted with everything going on that he hadn’t thought about his foster parents for hours.

Eddie looks like he’s about to scream, face red and jaw clenched so right that a muscle in his jaw tics. Freddy prepares for him to start screaming - either that, or for steam to start coming out of his ears - but eventually he just exhales loudly and closes his eyes briefly. When he opens them again, he’s calmer.

“We’re going to have a big talk when we get home,” he says. “Because things need to change.” Freddy’s heart drops. “You can’t keep doing things like this, and I can’t keep acting like I have been. We both have things we need to change, and if we’re going to be a properly functioning family then I think we actually need to communicate. Alright?” He looks to Richie as though for assurance, and Richie takes his hand. Even Freddy has to admit that that’s cute.

“So,” he says, slow and confused. “You’re not… sending me back?”

“Sending you back?” Richie frowns. “What the fuck? No, Freddy, of course not. We want you to be a part of our family.”

Freddy has been passed around all his life. He’s been stuck in group homes, with shitty foster families and sometimes even with his terrible biological parents. Maybe that’s why he acts like such a bitch sometimes, acts like he doesn’t need a family and he doesn’t want one. It’s easier for him to be bristly and unfriendly than it is to admit that, deep down, he just wants to be loved.

But now, staring at these men who have tried and tried to invite him into their tiny, loving family, Freddy starts to cry.

“I’m sorry,” Freddy says, and his voice breaks. “I’m sorry– I’m sorry.”

Eddie is the first to rush forward and wrap his arms around Freddy, and Richie is close to follow. He feels warm like this, safe. Maybe even, if he lets himself believe it, loved.

“Ah shit,” Richie says, voice suspiciously thick. “Don’t cry. At least, not about this. Feel free to cry about the month long grounding you’re gonna get, but don’t cry about this. It’s okay. Everything’s gonna be okay.”

They stay like that for a while. Probably too long, because when they finally all pull apart both Mike and the girl behind the counter book look very uncomfortable. Freddy makes a point to be extra nice to Mike after this, even if the guy did snitch on Freddy that one time. Which reminds him–

“Hey, where’s Billy?” Eddie asks, at the exact same moment that Billy rounds the corner with a bottle of beer in each hand.

“I couldn’t decide which to get because they all look the same so I just–” He cuts himself off as soon as he looks up to see everyone gathered around, staring at him. His eyes flick to Freddy, absolutely terrified, and he lowers his hands to hang at his sides like he wishes he could hide the beer bottles behind his back.

“Oh, shit,” Mike says suddenly. “That’s him. That’s the guy I was telling you about.”

Eddie takes one look at Billy - admittedly it isn’t a great look, dressed in a superhero costume complete with a cape and some alcohol - and his hands curl into fists.

“Oh, hell no,” he says.

“Uh, Freddy?” Billy says in a small voice. Freddy turns to them– his new family.

“Um,” he says. “I can explain?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you thought! <3


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